From the monthly archives:

September 2009

Chase sucks! Homeowners use social media to fight back

by Moe Bedard

Banks just do not get it. They may sit on all the big corporate media boards and fill political coffers in turn to pull the strings of our Senators, but they cannot control social media sites.
Their failure to do what is right is being exposed daily by homeowners and banking clients like the one below. [...]

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Are you being abused by Chase? Here is how you get help!

by Moe Bedard

Are you being screwed by Chase? Are you being used and abused during the loan modification or short sale process and want to know your rights?
Welcome to the club of unhappy homeowners, abused Chase clients and never ending stories of lies, lies and more lies. Heck, don’t take my word for it, there are over [...]

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Foreclosure law aims to help Oregon homeowners

by Moe Bedard

Senate Bill 628 requires lenders to make a good faith effort to meet in person or on the phone with homeowners having problems making the month mortgage payment.
“What I hope will happen is there will be increased communication between the borrower, and the home owners who are facing foreclosure and their lenders” said Oregon Senator [...]

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Nevada enacts law to stop loan modification scams

by Moe Bedard

The State of Nevada has ruled that every single loan modification consultant in Nevada will have to stop operations on Thursday if they don’t meet new requirements.
This stems from a law passed in May, which created new regulations for loan modifiers. Before that, anyone could call himself or herself a modifier. That led to a [...]

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Knock, knock. Who’s there? Freddie….

by Moe Bedard

It’s not quite “Hi, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” 
But it’s along those lines. 
Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage giant, plans to send people out to knock on the doors of borrowers who might qualify for a loan modification under President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program but haven’t completed the paperwork. 
The plan, which [...]

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Foreclosure Strippers: Screwed homeowners decide to get even

by Moe Bedard
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Banks hold record delinquent mortgages

by Moe Bedard

The ratio of first mortgages 90-days late in Orange County rose for the seventh straight month in July, hitting 6.7% of all loans outstanding. That’s the highest percentage since at least January 2007, when it was a mere 0.7%, and is up slightly from 6.6% in June, reports First American CoreLogic.
The percentage of mortgages here [...]

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FORECLOSURE MEDIATION PROGRAMS’ POTENTIAL TO HELP HOMEOWNERS NOW IN JEOPARDY DUE TO LACK OF INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY

by Moe Bedard

NCLC Looks at 25 Programs in 14 States: CA, CT, FL, IN, KY, ME, MI, NV, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR and PA; Mediation Programs Seen as Faltering For Same Reasons as Struggling Federal Voluntary Foreclosure Modification Efforts.
WASHINGTON, D.C.///September 23, 2009///A spate of new state and local programs that have emerged over the last year [...]

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Ohio AG Cordray Complaint Filed in Shareholder Lawsuit Against Bank of America

by Moe Bedard

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced today that the Lead Plaintiff group in a securities class action lawsuit against Bank of America has filed a consolidated amended complaint.  The complaint alleges that statements made in 2008 by Defendants regarding the Bank of America merger with Merrill Lynch failed to disclose billions of [...]

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Apartment renters become victim of predatory landlord

by Moe Bedard

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) — A Hemet neighborhood with a history of financial woes was in even more trouble Monday night. Almost every apartment unit on the 500 block of Mobley Lane has gone into foreclosure. And residents say they’re being told to leave, even if they’ve paid their rent.

Read more from ABC

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Anger at bank overdraft fees gets hotter, bigger and louder

by Moe Bedard

At first glance, banks’ practices seem reasonable enough: Overdraw your account, and the bank will cover the transaction — for a fee. The problem is, most banks don’t ask consumers if they want their transactions automatically paid. In recent years, as banks realized how lucrative these fees can be, they’ve made it easier for consumers [...]

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Foreclosure chicanery not a funny lawyer joke

by Moe Bedard

But filing fake documents to establish the right to take possession of someone’s home? That’s not something a lawyer should do.
So what if that were suddenly happening in cases all over the nation? What if some law firms that specialize in bulk handling of mortgage foreclosures for the lending industry were having so much trouble [...]

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Shadow Market Part IV: Trying to Get a Loan Modification in Phoenix

by Moe Bedard

Too far underwater to refinance her loan, Ms. Parry says she began seeking a loan modification from Citigroup Inc. in June 2008 and ran into continual delays. So far, she says, she has submitted financial information and documentation for her request at least five times.
Sometimes, Ms. Parry says, she has been told that the bank [...]

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N.J. man learns modifying mortgage to cut payments may impair credit rating

by Moe Bedard

To confuse consumers even more, not all lenders follow the guidelines.
That may change on November 1, when lenders can use a new code to report them as a “loan modification under government program.” The code will clarify which borrowers have taken modifications, but because the modification process itself is not streamlined, it won’t be the [...]

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America’s backlash against banks

by Moe Bedard

Consumers: Bailout aided lenders, not us
James Seeley and Hilary Egan live in different towns, but have lots in common: Both face financial woes, both applied for mortgage modifications and both got turned down.
And, like lots of Americans these days, both feel banks that got massive taxpayer bailouts aren’t reciprocating by helping U.S. consumers.
“I don’t know [...]

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The Mortgage Machine Backfires

by Moe Bedard

The system also led to confusion. When MERS was involved, borrowers who hoped to work out their loans couldn’t identify who they should turn to.
As cases filed by MERS grew, lawyers representing troubled borrowers began questioning how an electronic registry with no ownership claims had the right to evict people. April Charney, a consumer lawyer [...]

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Foreclosure lawyers scrutinized for ethical violations

by Moe Bedard

The state group that disciplines lawyers is debating how to deal with reports of attorneys using errors and false statements to retake property in foreclosure cases.
Some of the most egregious Florida examples come from Sarasota County, where a study this summer that looked at the civil courts system found three of four foreclosure cases that [...]

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Phone Calls Add to Din Over Loans

by Moe Bedard

Congressional Investigators Ask for More on Countrywide VIP Mortgage Program
The discovery that Countrywide Financial Corp. recorded phone conversations with borrowers in a controversial mortgage program that included public officials — and that those recordings have been destroyed — has prompted new congressional calls for more information about the program.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking [...]

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Bank Pulls Back From Acorn Work

by Moe Bedard

“Bank of America takes recent allegations made against Acorn and Acorn Housing Corporation employees very seriously,” the bank said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau dropped Acorn as a partner for the 2010 Census, and the House of Representatives voted to block the group from receiving federal funds.
“We’re not surprised that our [...]

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Scammers prey on homeowners looking for help

by Moe Bedard

Locally, a Pico Rivera business specializing in home modification loans drew the attention of sheriff’s fraud detectives when several clients showed up Sept.17 demanding answers.
The next day, deputies raided Your Dreams Come True Inc. on Slauson Avenue and later arrested Frank Candelaria, 47, for theft when he allegedly collected an advance fee in East Los [...]

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